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Monday, November 14, 2011

Names, Places and Most Wanted Faces

Following Geniaus' suggestion about adding our "most wanted" ancestors from Australia and their homeland, adapted from Thomas MacEntee's Surname Saturday blog post, I have created a new blog. Here are the (public) answers to my very first meme regarding my most elusive ancestors.

Format:

1. List your surnames in alphabetical order as follows:

[SURNAME]: State/Province (county/subdivision), date rangeas in:

AUSTIN surname: New York (Jefferson County, Lewis County, St. Lawrence County), 1830-present; Rhode Island (Kent County, Washington County), 1638-1830

2. At the end, list your Most Wanted Ancestor with details!

Aston, Mary:
Armagh, Ireland, ?-1903;

Emigrating to Australia at some unknown time

Cook, William
Henry or Henry William: Shoreditch, Middlesex, England, 1819-1869, Emigrating to Australia at some unknown time

Mary Jones married Thomas Pugh Morgan in Abergavenny in 1851. Together with
their children, they immigrated to Queensland, later settling in Wallsend NSW

King, Olive: Brighton, Sussex, England, 1820?-1898
Convict, Olive King was transported to NSW for 7 years aboard the “Mary Anne”.

Lefroy, James: Ireland? 1804-1884
Convict, James Lefroy was transported to Australia aboard the “Eliza” in 1832
for 7 years.

Matheson, Christiana: Isle of Skye, Scotland, 1815?-1895;

Emigrating to Australia at some unknown time

Morgan, Thomas
Pugh: Monmouthshire, Wales 1827-1881.
Thomas Pugh Morgan married Mary Jones in Abergavenny in 1851. Together with
their children, they immigrated to Queensland, later settling in Wallsend NSW

Nicholls Henry: Rochester, Kent, England, 1818-?
Convict, Henry Nicholls was transported to Tasmania for 15 years, arriving
aboard the “Gilmore” in 1843. There he met and married another convict, Fanny
Norman in 1852. Sometime after 1854, the family moved to, and settled in Sydney
NSW. Henry then disappears from the records

O’Connor, James: Ballinalack, Westmeath, Ireland 1837-1902; Emigrating to Australia at some unknown time

O’Sullivan / Sullivan, Julia: Boherbue, County Cork, Ireland, 1833-?; Emigrating to Australia at some unknown time

Smith, Owen – total brick wall – only named on son’s baptism
certificate as a shoemaker, at Boorolong Station near Armidale NSW, Australia

Wotton, William: Bridford, Devon, England 1830-1870; Emigrating to Australia at some unknown time

My Most Wanted? Owen Smith (see above) and his wife Christiana Matheson by a long shot. My Mother started her search for this couple over 40 years ago, and it was only recently that Christiana's surname and place of birth were discovered. But even contacting a researcher on the Isle of Skye, nothing can identify her parents or when she would have arrived in Australia!